Brush making apparatus



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 6, 1964 JEFF INVENTO DOQE' so new file-(142m 3 ATTdRNEYS Jan. 25, 1966 T. MARKS ETAL BRUSH MAKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 6, 1964 iNVENTORS gzawe g/ime/rs BY are? fez/4 001 ATTORNEB United States Patent Office 3,231,311 Patented Jan. 25, 1966 3,231,311 BRUSH MAKING APPARATUS Theodore Marks, Hartsdale, and Joseph T. Gelardi,

Yonkers, N.Y., assignors to American Technical Machinery Corp., Mount Vernon, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed July 6, 1964, Ser. No. 380,439 Claims. (Cl. 300-2) This invention relates to an apparatus for making twisted wire products and, in particular, to a brush making apparatus for producing a twisted'wire brush by the application of a twisting force to the bristles held between adjacently arranged strands of wire.

It is known to produce twisted wire brush products by depositing bristles between adjacent strands of wire and then twisting the strands about each other to lock the bristles in place. In order to effect twisting, the strands with the bristles .therebetween are supported via means to provide a reacting force to oppose the applied twisting force. One such type of means comprises a pair of stationary. opposed feed jaws which are adapted via opposed grooves or wire guide channels in the jaws to receive and pass the wires therethrough. As a pair of adjacently arranged'wires approach the feed jaws, bristles are deposited between them, and as the wires with the bristles pass through the spaced jaws with each wire riding a groove or channel, a twisting force is applied to'the emerging wires to lock the bristles the'rebetween, the twist-reacting force being set up at the jaws. The twisting of the wires is generally accomplished by a rotating chuck in which the ends of the wires are gripped. The chuck is mounted on a reciprocating carriage and, during the operating stroke, the chuck pulls the wires with the brush bristles held therebetween while, either during or at the end of the stroke, the chuck is rotated to impart a twist to the wires. Upon completion of the operating stroke, knives are operated to cut the twisted brush'element. The chuck is then returned to homeposition and the operation repeated. As will be apparent, this process of making brushes is intermittent and not continuous.

In US. Serial No. 92,657, filed March 1, 1961, in the name of Joseph T. Gelardi and assigned to the same assignee as this application, now Patent No. 3,160,440, dated December 8, 1964, an apparatus is disclosed for continuously producing twisted wire brushes comprising a hollow member adapted to receive a brush body and to permit passage of a brush body therethrough, and means associated with the hollow member for applying a force to the bristles held between the wires for imparting a twist to the wires. In one embodiment, the means for imparting the twist to the wires comprises a helical screw rigidly attached to the interior of the hollow means, such that as the hollow member rotates, the bristles are acted upon by the helix of the screw thereby imparting a twist to the wire while causing the wire and associated bristles to feed linearly through the hollow member.

In the present invention we provide an entirely new apparatus for continuously producing twisted wire brushes without requiring the use of a helical screw or similar element.

It is thus an object of our invention to provide a brush making apparatus for simultaneously twisting and feeding a twisted wire product in a linear direction.

Another object is to provide a combined brush twisting and feeding device of simple construction.

A still further object is to provide a progressive wire twisting arrangement of elements adapted for the continuous production of twisted wire products.

These and other objects will more clearly appear when taken in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is one embodiment of our invention showing a rotatable hollow shaft partially broken away having fixed at one end a brush twisting head which rotates with the shaft, said head having 'rotatably mounted thereon a pair of rolls made of yieldable material, such as rubber;

FIG. 1A is a cross section taken along line 1A-1A of the twist reacting means shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is like FIG. 1 except that the cooperating members are shown in cross section;

FIG. 3 depicts one embodiment of the brush twisting head in three dimensions;

FIG. 4 shows'in front elevation the rolls in relation to a pair of wires with bristles held therebetween;

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment comprising two spaced pairs of yieldable rolls for use in producing a twisted wire product in which the bristles are intermittently spaced from each other; while FIG. 6 shows as an additional embodiment another pair of rolls made of stiff but yieldable brush bristles.

Stating it broadly, we provide a combined brush feeding and twisting device comprising a rotatably mounted hollow shaft for receiving and passing strands of wire and associated brush material therethrough, the shaft having fixed at one end a head which rotates with the shaft. The head, which'has a passageway running through it coextensive with the hollow of the shaft, has rotatably mounted on its face a pair of oppositely disposed rolls with the periphery of one bearing against the other, the axes of the rolls being transverse to the axis of the hollow shaft. Preferably, though not necessarily, each of the rolls has an annular recess or groove intermediate itsv ends such that the rolls provide between them an opening aligned with the hollow of the shaft. As the strands of wire with bristles held therebetween enter the opening in the head and pass between the rolls, the portions of the rolls in contact with each other grip transversely at least some of the bristles and as the' head rotates, the force applied to the bristles gripped between the rolls causes the strands of wire to twist about each other and lock the bristles therebetween.

The rolls arecaused to rotate away from each other by means of a gear transmission coupled at one end to gear means associated with the rolls and at the other end to an actuating gear means coaxially and rotatably mounted on the shaft. A rotatably mounted driven member is cooperably associated with the actuating gear so that as the driven member is caused to rotate by an outside driving means, such as a belt connected to 'a motor, the actuating gear, which is mounted together with the driven member on an antifr'iction bearing, is

caused to rotate and transmit its rotational energy via gear transmission means to the rolls on the head.

As illustrative of one embodiment of our invention,

we show in FIGS. 1 and 2 a hollow shaft 19 (broken away) rotatably mounted for example by means of driven gear 11 keyed coaxially to the outer circumference of the shaft, said gear being in meshing engagement with gear 20 are rotatably and coaxially mounted about the J circumference of the hollow shaft, the pulley being driven by' a toothed belt 21 coupled to a motor or'other driving means not shown. A pair of gear transmission means is provided for transmitting the rotational energy of gear 20 to resilient rolls 17 and 18. Referring to FIGS. 1

to 3, a pair of gear transmissions are shown comprising worms 22 and .23 mounted .on shafts 24 and 25, respectively, the shafts passing through the face plate 14 and coupled at the other end, in the case of shaft 24, to a gear 26 which meshes with actuating gear 20. Shaft 25 similarly has a gear 27 (note FIGS. 2 and 3) which meshes with actuating gear 20. Worm gear 22 meshes with worm wheel 28 which is fixed to the rotatable shaft of roll 18 and worm 23 (note FIG. 3) meshes with worm wheel 29. of roll 17. As will be apparent, as the rotation of pulley 19 causes actuating gear 20 to rotate, its rotational energy is transmitted simultaneously to rolls 17 and 18 by means of said pair of gear transmissions. To insure antifriction rotation of the pulley and actuating gear, they are mounted on a ball or roller bearing 30 (note FIG. 2) surrounding the circumference of shaft 10.

In utilizing the combined twisting and feeding device, the strands of wire with the bristles deposited therebetween are fed along a longitudinal axis towards the device. It is generally the case to pass the wires and associated bristles through a twist-reacting means so that partial twisting by virtue of the rotation of the head begins before the wires and bristles enter the hollow shaft. Thus, referring to FIG. 1, a pair of wires 35 and 36 drawn off from-wire reels (not shown) have deposited between them bristles 37. The means for depositing the bristles are not shown since such means are well known in the art as described in Marks U.S. Patent No. 2,742,- 327, the Hertzberg U.S. Patent No. 2,712,473 and the Briglia U.S. Patent No. 3,112,957. The bristle-laden wires pass through a twist reacting means 38 (note also FIG. 1A) that sets up a reacting force to the rotating head so that some partial twisting occurs before the wires and bristles enter the hollow shaft. This is preferred as it insures adequate support for the bristles before they are given the final twist by the rolls.

The wires and supported bristles enter the hollow shaft and then come in contact with the recessed rolls. The bristles of the partially twisted wires lying in the transverse direction are gripped by the contacting surface of the resilient rolls. This is shown more clearly in FIG. 4 which shows a pair of wires 35 and 36 supporting between them transverse bristles 39 and other bristles 40 extending diagonally in the space between the rolls bounded. by annular recesses. As the transverse bristles are gripped by the rolls, the rotation of the twisting head applies a force to the bristles which in turn sets up a force couple which causes one wire to twist about the other. Referring to FIG. 1, a brush is shown leaving the device and passing through a hollow cylindrical support 41 towards a cutting station 42 comprising a pair of. shear blades 43 and 44. Q

We find that our device is particularly suited for applying additional twist to a previously partially twisted product. In FIG. 2, we show. a rotatable cylindrical shell 45 provided with means to effect at least partial twisting to strands of wire and associated bristles before they enter hollow shaft to the rotary head for the final twisting operation. Mounted within the cylinder are rods 46 and 47 suitably anchored by their bent ends being inserted into small recesses in the wall of the cylinder. A single gear 48 is coaxially fixed around the cylinder in meshing engagement with an actuating gear 49 driven by a shaft or other means not shown. The cylinder is adapted to rotate in the same direction as'hollow shaft 10 but slower than said shaft. By rotating the cylinder as the strands of wire and associated brush material pass therethrough, the rods apply a force to the bristles which in turn cause the strands of.

wire to begin to twist about each other As in FIG. 1, the strands of wire may first pass through a twist reacting means of the type similar to 38 or the type disclosed 4 1 in our copending application Serial No. 92,657, filed March 1, 1961, now Patent No. 3,160,440.

Where is is desired to produce a twisted wire product in which the bristles are segmentally spaced from each other as shown in FIG. 5, that is a length of twisted strands of wire between segments of bristles 52 it will be appreciated that more than one pair of annularly recessed yieldable rolls may be necessary to carry out the operation in order to insure positive linear tnavel of the twisted wire product through the rolls. Referring to FIG. 5, wires and associated bristles 50 are shown approaching a first pair of yieldable rolls 51 mounted on a rotary head. As bristle segment 52 passes through rolls 51, the bristles are acted upon by the rolls in the manner shown in FIG. 4 as the rolls are rotatingtransversely of and about the longitudinal axis of the twisted wire product. In the meantime, only the bare wires are passing through the annular space between the second set of rolls 53, during which there is no coaction between said rolls and the twisted wire product. Thus, by having two pairs of resilient rolls appropriately spaced from each other, at least one pair will be applying the necessary forces to the bristles of a segmented twisted wire product to insure movement of the product along its longitudinal axis.

In mounting the rolls on the head, provision may be made for adjusting the rolls relative to each other. For example, in FIG. 3 pillow block 16 supporting roll 18 may be integral with a mounting plate 55 having a slot 56 at one end through which a screw 57 passes for fastening the plate to the head, the opposite end of the mounting plate being pivotally mounted. The mounting plate supporting pillow blocks 15 may be similarly constructed, the slotted portion being somewhat diametrically opposite that of slot 56. i By loosening the mounting, the rolls can be moved relative to each other.

The yieldable rolls referred to herein may be made of resilient rubber or resilient plastic or any other materials having elastomeric properties, or the yieldable rolls may comprise a pair of cylindrical brushes, for example as depicted in FIG. 6, which shows a pair of rotary brushes 55a, 56a arranged adjacent each other with the surface of one in contact with the other, the rotary brushes being mounted on shafts 57a, 58a, respectively, said shafts being similarly cooperatively associated with transmission means as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.

As stated above, while it is preferred that the rolls have an annular recess intermediate their ends, the invention may be carried out with yieldable rolls not having such recesses in instances where the bristle material employed in making brush products has good memory and returns to its original configuration after being subjected to some deformation or bending when passing between such rolls.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the invention provides a novel wire twisting and wire feeding element, a novel progressive wire twisting battery and a novel brush making machine formed by combinations of these novel features.

While the foregoing description sets forth the principles of the invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation of the scope of the invention as set forth in the objects thereof and in the accompanying claims, in which the word brush is defined to mean any brush-like article or structure, the word bristle to mean any relatively short transverse member, however soft, the word wire to mean any relatively long twistable member, however rigid, and the words brush body to mean a plurality of wires having bristles spaced thereinbetween, whether twisted or untwisted.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine for producing twisted wire products,

.a combined feeding and twisting device compriisng, a rostrands of wire and associated bristles therethrough, a head fixed to said shaft, said head having a passageway therethrough coextensive with the hollow of said shaft, a pair of oppositely disposed yieldable rolls rotatably mounted on said head with the periphery of one bearing against the other, the axes of said rolls being transverse to the axis of the hollow shaft, a driven member coaxially and rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent said head, and transmission means cooperably associated with each of said yieldable rolls and coupled to said coaxially mounted driven means for rotating said yieldable rolls away from each other about their respective axes.

2. The machine as in claim 1 wherein said rolls comprise a pair of rotary brushes.

3. In a machine for producing twisted wire products, a combined feeding and twisting device comprising, a retatably mounted hollow shaft for receiving and passing strands of wire and associated bristles therethorugh, a head fixed to said shaft, said head having a passageway therethrough coextensive with the hollow of said shaft, a pair of oppositely disposed yieldable rolls rotatably mounted on said head with the periphery of one bearing against the other, the axes of said rolls being transverse to the axis of the hollow shaft, a driven gear coaxially and rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent said head, and gear transmission means cooperably associated with each of said yieldable rolls and coupled to said coaxially mounted gear for rotating said yieldable rolls away from each other about their respective axes.

4. In a machine for producing twisted wire products, a combined feeding and twisting device comprising, a rotatably mounted hollow shaft for receiving and passing strands of wire and associated bristles therethrough, a head fixed to said shaft, said head having a passageway therethrough coextensive with the hollow of said shaft, a pair of oppositely disposed yieldable rolls rotatably mounted on said head with the periphery of one bearing against the other, the axes of said rolls being transverse to the axis of the hollow shaft, said rolls each having an annular recess intermediate their ends such that the rolls provide between them an opening aligned with the hollow of said shaft through which wire and bristles entering the hollow shaft may pass with the contacting portions of the rolls gripping at least some of the bristles, a driven member and associated gear coaxially and rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent said head, said driven member being adapted to rotate said gear, and gear transmission means cooperably associated with each of said yieldable rolls and coupled to said coaxially mounted gear for rotating said yieldable rolls away from each other about their respective axes.

5. In a machine for producing twisted wire products, a combined feeding and twisting device comprising, a rotatably mounted hollow shaft for receiving and passing strands of wire and associated bristles therethrough, a head fixed to said shaft, said head having a passageway therethrough coextensive with the hollow of said shaft, a pair of oppositely disposed yieldable rollers rotatably mounted on said head with the periphery of one bearing against the other, the axes of said rolls being transverse to the axis of the hollow shaft, said rolls having an annular recess intermediate their ends such that together the rolls provide an opening through which wire and bristles entering the hollow shaft may pass with the contacting portions of the rolls gripping at least some of the bristles, a pulley and associated gear coaxially and rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent said head, said pulley being adapted via a belt to rotate said gear, and a pair of gear trains, each of said trains being cooperably associated with and coupled to each of said yieldable rollers and to said coaxially mounted gear.

6. In a brush making machine, a combined brush feeding and twisting device comprising, a rotatably mounted hollow shaft for receiving and passing strands of wire and associated bristles therethrough, a head fixed to said shaft, said head having a passageway therethrough coextensive with the hollow of said shaft, a pair of oppositely disposed yieldable rolls rotatably mounted on said head with the periphery of one bearing against the other, the axes of said rolls being transverse to the axis of the hollow shaft, said rolls each having an annular recess intermediate their ends such that the rolls provide between them an opening aligned with the hollow ofsaid shaft through which wire and brush bristles entering the hollow shaft may pass with the contact portions of the rolls gripping at least some of the bristles, a pulley and associated gear coaxially and rotatably mounted on an anti-friction bearing coaxially mounted on said shaft adjacent said head, said pulley being adapted via a belt to rotate said gear, and a pair of gear trains, each of said gear trains being cooperably associated with each of said yieldable rolls and coupled to said coaxially mounted gear for rotating said yieldable rolls away from each other about their axes, each of said gear trains comprising a worm wheel associated with each roll, a worm gear enmeshed with said worm wheel and mounted on a shaft passing through said head and a gear at the end of said shaft enmeshed with said coaxially mounted gear.

7. In a machine for producing twisted wire products, a progressive twisting device comprising apparatus means adapted to receive strands of wire with bristles held therebetween and to impart a partial twist to said strands while allowing said strands and associated bristles to pass through said apparatus means, a rotatably mounted hollow shaft for receiving and passing said partially twisted strands of wire and associated bristles therethrough, a head fixed to said shaft, said head having a passageway therethrough coextensive with the hollow of said shaft, a pair of oppositely disposed yieldable rolls rotatably mounted on said head with the periphery of one bearing against the other, the axes of said rolls being transverse to the axis of the hollow shaft, a driven member coaxially and rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent said head, and transmission means cooperably associated with each of said yieldable rolls and coupled to said coaxially mounted driven means for rotating said yieldable rolls away from each other about their respective axes.

8. The machine as in claim 7 wherein said rolls comprise a pair of rotary brushes.

9. In a machine for producing twisted wire products, a progressive twisting device comprising apparatus means adapted to receive strands of wire with bristles held therebetween and to impart a partial twist to said strands while allowing said strands and associated bristles to pass through said apparatus means, a rotatably mounted hollow shaft for receiving and passing said partially twisted strands of wire and associated bristles therethrough, a head fixed to said shaft, said head having a passageway therethrough coextensive with the hollow of said shaft, a pair of oppositely disposed yieldable rolls rotatably mounted on said head with the periphery of one bearing against the other, the axes of said rolls being transverse to the axis of the hollow shaft, a driven gear coaxially and rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent said head, and gear transmission means cooperably associated with each of said yieldable rolls and coupled to said coaxially mounted gear for rotating said yieldable rolls away from each other about their respective axes.

10. In a machine for producing twisted wire products, a progressive twisting device comprising a rotatable hollow cylinder adapted to receive and pass therethrough strands of wire with bristles held therebetween, said cylinder having means therein for applying force to the bristles thereby to produce a partial twist to the strands of wire, a rotatably mounted hollow shaft for receiving and passing said partially twisted strands of wire and associated bristles therethrough, a head fixed to said shaft, said head having a passageway therethrough coextensive with the hollow of said shaft, a pair of oppositely disposed yieldable rolls rotatably mounted on said head with the periph- 7 ery of one bearing against the other, the axes of said rolls being transverse to the axis of the hollow shaft, said rolls each having an annular recess intermediate their ends such that the rolls provide between them an opening aligned with the hollow of said shaft through which wire and bristles entering the hollow shaft may pass with the contacting portions of the rolls gripping at least some of the bristles, a driven member and associated gear coaxially and rotatably mounted on said shaft adjacent said head,

8 saidvdriven member being adapted to rotate said gear, and gear transmission means cooperably associated with each of said yieldable rolls and coupled to said coaxialy mounted gear forr otating said yieldable rolls away from each other about their respective axes.

No references cited.

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, 111., Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A MACHINE FOR PRODUCING TWISTED WIRE PRODUCTS, A COMBINED FEEDING AND TWISTING DEVICE COMPRISING, A ROTATABLY MOUNTED HOLLOW SHAFT FOR RECEIVING AND PASSING STRANDS OF WIRE AND ASSOCIATED BRISTLES THERETHROUGH, A HEAD FIXED TO SAID SHAFT, SAID HEAD HAVING A PASSAGEWAY THERETHROUGH COEXTENSIVE WITH THE HOLLOW OF SAID SHAFT, A PAIR OF OPPOSITELY DISPOSED YIELDABLE ROLLS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID HEAD WITH THE PERIPHERY OF ONE BEARING AGAINST THE OTHER, THE AXES OF SAID ROLLS BEING TRANSVERSE TO THE AXIS OF THE HOLLOW SHAFT, A DRIVEN MEMBER COAXIALLY AND ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT ADJACENT SAID HEAD, AND TRANSMISSION MEANS COOPERABLY ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF SAID YIELDABLE ROLLS AND COUPLED TO SAID COAXIALLY MOUNTED DRIVEN MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID YIELDABLE ROLLS AWAY FROM EACH OTHER ABOUT THEIR RESPECTIVE AXES. 